This invention relates to the manufacture of flexures used in force transducers and more particularly to the method of manufacturing force transducer flexures configured out of a unitary piece of material such as fused quartz.
In a force transducer, for example, an electromagnetic servo balanced accelerometer, the force sensor may include a unitary, fused quartz, glass or metal part consisting of a movable element joined by a bendable flexure section to a base.
An example of such a transducer is found in Jacobs U.S. Pat. No. 3,702,073 and Hanson U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,182,187 and 4,250,757. Copending Hanson application, Ser. No. 283,340, filed July 14, 1981 and assigned to the assignee of this application, discloses flexures for a force transducer with conductors deposited on surfaces substantially in the neutral bending plane of the flexure. This application is concerned with a method for manufacturing such flexure.
In the manufacture of such a transducer, it is desirable to control the flexure thickness dimensions to a high accuracy, since this to a large extent controls the ultimate bias performance of the transducer and it is also considered desirable to achieve this accuracy in a simple, reliable manner. Heretofore, the manufacture of such flexure has required rigorous process controls combined with periodic measurement of the thickness of the flexure.